Hey! I Played Poker!

Butch Howard

WPBT 2017 was today and I was fortunate enough to be able to make it. I played. Poorly.

That was fun. We should do it again.

Mastodon12

Butch Howard

One post a year is a good rate, yeah?

Otis and BadBlood organized an awesome weekend of gatherings, running, and a little poker. It was pretty amazing to be invited into the circle of far-flung internet friends. Each time I have been fortunate enough to get to one of the WPBT-ish gatherings, I have been astounded by the warmth and welcoming nature of this collection of people who, for the most part met, over the Intertubes.

This time out there was BBQ with some poker, an evening cookout and prep for racing, a day of racing  and cheering on racers, and then an evening of revelry. Mary and I enjoyed every minute of it, in our quiet way. We had good food, friendly conversations, and great companionship the entire time.

We walked our 5k race and finished in just under the 60 minute mark. Getting cheered by the Mastodon Crew as we went down the final stretch. Even though we walked, this was a major accomplishment for both of us and something I think will encourage us to continue getting in better shape. Having walked, we came in behind everyone running the 5k, but we got to see and cheer for the folks running the Half- and Full-marathons as they completed their runs. Everyone succeeded in every way that is important.

Thanks again to Otis, BadBlood, and all of the rest who come together to make this such a special group. Especially thank you all for inviting us to hang with the cool kids.

Hat tips:
Otis
Bad Blood

Cashed Out

Butch Howard

I cashed out the last bit of change that I had on Pokerstars. It was an amount large enough to pay for my wife and me to have nice burgers at The Counter perhaps, but not enough to do much else. I am not going to bother cashing out the 28 cents I have on FullTilt.

I also deleted the program icons from my desktop. I do not expect to play any online for 3-5 years as that business gets sorted out. I really wish the closest live (legal) poker wasn't 7 hours away. But, then again, maybe that is for the best also.

For good news: My wife and I will be going to Kansas City for a wedding at the end of the month where, I have heard, they still have casinos that have not been sucked out of the state by tornadoes. I plan to play some while we are there.

PokerStars Home Games

Butch Howard

You are invited to join my private poker club for Home Games online.

- If you don't already have it, download the free PokerStars software from www.pokerstars.com
- Open the main poker lobby, then click on the Home Games tab
- Click the 'Join a Poker Club' button
- Enter my Club ID number: 386329
- Enter my Invitation Code: poker kicks

That's it! Once I've approved your membership request, we'll be ready to start playing Home Games online together.

If you want to find out more, visit www.pokerstars.com/homegames

WPBT

Butch Howard

Trip report coming soon. I have posted the few photos I took. Even though I carried my little camera everywhere, I ended up not taking very many photos.

This is the one that stands out to me right now.

From 2009 December Vegas

I was going to leave this one out because it was so blurry, but decided that it needed to be there because that is just the way the week is starting to feel about now. The memories are fading and blurring. Mary and I sat at lunch yesterday (Saturday) trying to outline the week and had trouble remembering which events happened on which days. This only two days after getting home.

Here are the rest

2009 December Vegas

WPBT Tick Tock

Butch Howard

A bit over a year ago the girls went to Vegas and the boys stayed home. And I don't mean 'girls' as in the wives took on the town; that was a gaggle of teenagers with a couple of chaperons.

This time the adults are going and the kids are staying home.

Mary and I are combining a long needed vacation with an anniversary trip of sorts. Since our anniversary is 28May it lands right in a really rotten time of year to do anything by ourselves. Kids and widely scattered family have lots of things happening right around that part of the year. Added to that this was the Great Job Disaster. Things are on track December will be a great time to go off on our own for a bit.

Mary seems very willing to mix in some adventures in Vegas with meeting some of these somewhat-invisible-internet folks. As reluctant as I usually am about going out in a crowd, I am looking forward to putting 3D, full-color, live action faces to some of the monikers I follow online. I just have to work really hard at splitting it fairly between Us-time, Mary-time, and poker-time while keeping in mind the IfMamaAintHappy¹ rule.

So, here we come Winter 2009 WPBT Gathering. Be gentle, it's our first time.

---

¹IfMamaAintHappy If Mama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy

Mmmm Poker

Butch Howard

Post? What Post? Oh, yeah.

9:53 PM Skidoo: MOOOOK
9:55 PM me: full tilt or stars?
Skidoo: ft
9:56 PM me: yeah, I have $0.12 left there...
cause i suck

Made it to third in the Mookie last week. Had no intention of playing since I was down to $0.12 on FullTilt, but 23(Warsaw|Skidoo) talked me into it with a backing offer. It worked out and now I have a tiny bit more than $0.12 to mess about with.

I've been away so long and so many have changed their names, it was a bit hard to keep track of who was who. I just played it pretty ABC and let the kids have their fun. An early double up with KK and then some suckouts when I was short let me squeak past the better players to end at third. Thanks to 23(Warsaw|Skidoo) for backing me and to the gang for making me laugh.

See some of you in 23 days at the WPBT gathering.

Cheap stuff to do in Vegas

Butch Howard

From the Poker Grump

...L.A. Times article about things to do in Vegas for under $21. It listed a bunch of stuff I had never heard of before, so I assume it will be helpful to others, too.

Hand of The Day

Butch Howard

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed) - Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG+1 ($51.75)
MP1 ($30.05)
Hero (MP2) ($24.75)
CO ($14.50)
Button ($25)
SB ($16.35)
BB ($16.30)
UTG ($5)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q, Q
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $3, 2 folds, SB calls $2.90, BB calls $2.75, UTG+1 calls $2
Flop: ($12) Q, 6, 9 (4 players)
SB checks, BB bets $5.75, UTG+1 calls $5.75, Hero calls $5.75, 1 fold
Turn: ($29.25) A (3 players)
BB bets $7.55 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $7.55, Hero calls $7.55
River: ($51.90) Q (3 players, 1 all-in)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $8.45 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $8.45
Total pot: $68.80 | Rake: $3
Results:
BB had 9, A (two pair, Aces and Queens).
UTG+1 had 6, 6 (full house, sixes over Queens).
Hero had Q, Q (four of a kind, Queens).
Outcome: Hero won $65.80

WPBT WInter Gathering

Butch Howard

OK, Mary and I have booked rooms for the Winter Gathering. If I can just find a job between now and then, we will keep to the schedule and have some fun in Vegas.

Just Saying...

Butch Howard

You know it's time to shut down the internet and stop playing when two or three hands within a few minutes go wrong because your brain mysteriously forgets that a straight loses to a flush or misreads a 6 for an 8 giving you a weak two pair where you thought you had a poker full house. While the former might be helped some by keeping hand chart open, they both can only really be fixed by sleep.

Just saying those are some signs, should you ever need to know.

What He Said

Butch Howard

Ed Felton:

This story might help to illustrate why experienced engineers assume that any large software program will contain errors, and why they distrust anyone who claims otherwise. Getting a big program to run at all is an impressive feat of engineering. Making it error-free is too much to hope for. For the foreseeable future, software errors will be a fact of life.

Pokerstars WBCOOP

Butch Howard

UPDATE:

thhpppttt! No Freerolls for me (not a big loss given the crappy schedule)! Then No free advertising for you!

And when I tried to re-register with my other blog that is updated more often, I am rejected.

---

Hello PokerStars Player,

You recently applied to take part in this year's World Blogger Championship Of Online Poker (WBCOOP).

In response to complaints received in 2007, the eligibility guidelines for this year's WBCOOP are slightly stricter than those in previous years. In order to be eligible, a blog must:

- Have been online for at least two months
- Have been regularly updated in that time
- Have substantial, unique and original content
- Be a blog (not a forum thread)
- Be available to the public
- Not be libellous or defamatory towards PokerStars

PokerStars also reserves the right to limit the number of entries from the same web domain (for example, online poker communities).

Unfortunately, your blog does not meet the eligibility criteria for this year's WBCOOP.

It's likely that PokerStars' will run this promotion again in the future, so keep on writing! We hope to see you again next year with an eligible blog.


Best Regards,

The PokerStars Team

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Butch Howard

Another Joss Whedon hit.

F-Train Big Game Free Roll

Butch Howard

My prize for the guessing game was a buy in to the Blogger Big Game. Many Thanks to F-Train for that. The current state of my bank roll forbids play in those stakes, so this is quite the treat for me.

The following is the live-blog of the event.

10:30 So for I have made it to the first break with my stack still about average. We have lost 17 of the 70 starters. I have about a third the stack of the current leader.

Nothing special has happened to me either way. I have played pretty tight and people have noticed. We'll see how it goes after the break. I might be playing too tight, but everyone seems to be doing about the same as me.

I had one hand I probably should have folded on the river. It had a small suited connector in the small blind with everyone else limping and called along with the rest. The flop came two of my suit, paired one of my cards and gave me a draw to a straight flush. I bet pot, it folded to the chip leader who called and then it folded the rest of the way around. The turn gave me two pair. I checked, which I thought at the time was weak, but it wouldn't matter in the end. He checked behind. The flush filled on the river. I bet half the pot, he raised about three times that and for some dumb reason I called. He of course, had a bigger flush. It turns out he started with a pair of eights which gave him an overpair and a straight draw on the flop which filled on the turn with the flush filling on the river. I might have been able to bet him off the flop had I bet, but probably not and certainly not after that.

10:45 50/100 Trip sevens just won against a pair of jacks jumping me up to 6k.

10:55 60/120 I gave away to much with AK UTG that missed the flop against an AQ that caught a Q.

10:58 Back up to 5k with a bluff with 99 on a K high flop.

11:01 3.5k after a pair of 22 took a big chunk off of my QQ when it made trips

11:07 My Trip Tens on an all spade flop took my chips back from the same fellow

11:17 My stupidest play of the night. So bad I will publish it here:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6658711403: Blogger Big Game (41741046), Table 7 - 100/200 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:16:50 ET - 2008/06/01
Seat 1: Astin (2,660)
Seat 2: Chippy McStacks (3,880)
Seat 3: butchhoward (5,699)
Seat 4: Julkeus (7,620)
Seat 5: columbo (4,430)
Seat 6: pokerfaze (15,022)
Seat 7: TuscaloosaJohn (5,213)
Seat 8: corron10 (5,162)
Seat 9: bayne_s (4,389)
Chippy McStacks posts the small blind of 100
butchhoward posts the big blind of 200
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to butchhoward [7d 6d]
Julkeus folds
columbo folds
pokerfaze calls 200
TuscaloosaJohn folds
corron10 folds
bayne_s folds
Astin raises to 800
Chippy McStacks folds
butchhoward calls 600
pokerfaze calls 600
*** FLOP *** [5c 4d Ks]
butchhoward checks
pokerfaze checks
Astin checks
*** TURN *** [5c 4d Ks] [Jh]
butchhoward checks
pokerfaze checks
Astin bets 1,200
butchhoward has 15 seconds left to act
butchhoward calls 1,200
pokerfaze folds
*** RIVER *** [5c 4d Ks Jh] [Qd]
butchhoward has 15 seconds left to act
butchhoward checks
Astin bets 660, and is all in
butchhoward folds
Uncalled bet of 660 returned to Astin
Astin mucks
Astin wins the pot (4,900)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4,900 | Rake 0
Board: [5c 4d Ks Jh Qd]
Seat 1: Astin (button) collected (4,900), mucked
Seat 2: Chippy McStacks (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: butchhoward (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 4: Julkeus didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: columbo didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: pokerfaze folded on the Turn
Seat 7: TuscaloosaJohn didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: corron10 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: bayne_s didn't bet (folded)

Out of position with suited connectors and only two other players? Why am I playing this hand? Check Call the flop? Idjit. I know I should have raised if I was going to play it at all. Why do I do stupid crap like that when I really sort of seem to know better when I am not actually playing a hand?

11:19 UTG raises. I have TT and my M is about 10 so I push. He calls of course. My TT is less that his KK so IGHN out at 36th. I know he likely had a big pair or a big hand, but not likely to fold TT. I might could have called and folded if the flop did not come with a ten, but that amounts to just folding preflop so might as well push at this point.

Anyway.

Thanks to F-Train for the chance at the Big Game, sorry it was not a better showing.

For My Next Trick

Butch Howard

F-Train and CK took a trip across the country and sort of live-blogged most of it.

F-Train also ran a contest to guess the amount they would spend on gas for the trip. I used the 3275 miles he said Google mapped for them, some fuel economy numbers I found from a Google search for the car they drove, and used $4.00 per gallon for the gas. Out popped $614.06.

What do you know, I won.

Can't win a coin toss at the tables, but I can guess the right mileage and cost to win F-Train's Fuel Fun. Figures. Of course, whatever I have won here will be more than I have won at poker lately so, Woo Hoo!

Not Lost In Translation

Butch Howard

Google's Language Translator is pretty amazing. You can give it a bit of text or a URL and it will spin it back to you in some other language. When you translate an entire web page it does a nice job of showing you the page pretty much unaltered except for the text changes. Most of this is possible because of the structure of web pages in general where all the pretty stuff is defined in HTML and CSS with the content stuffed into well-defined areas. The meat of it is yet another of the cool tools from the Google House of Smarts.

Take this poker site in Estonia for example. You can easily tell it is a Poker portal from the ads on the right and some of the links on the page. It does not have a lot of Flash and so is a good candidate for translation. Unless you lived over there or worked for a company in Espoo, you might not catch on right away that it's likely from one of the Scandinavian countries. So you have to find a way to figure out the language.

You could make some guesses and eliminate many of the languages. It is certainly not from the Far East, Arabic, or Greek since those languages have distinctive character sets. It doesn't have enough -ous and -ette endings to be French. Spanish and its relatives look nothing like this. It doesn't have the tell-tale -ski signs of being Slavic.

That leaves just a few other languages that Google can handle. So, try each one of those to see if something that looks like English pops out. This is reasonable because Google Translate takes just a few seconds on each of these attempts. In a couple of minutes you have a page that shows the English text fitted into the original layout. You can be reasonably sure that the original is Finnish or some language close to Finnish.

They also do some other cool things with the page. You can hover over the translated text and it will pop up the original text. This is probably handy for those cases where you have some notion of the language and the Google Translator does it best but misses the mark or comes out with some odd grammar or technical terms. For instance, on this page while it knows that 'pokeri' is 'poker' it does not know that 'nettipokeri' means 'online poker' in Finnish. But even cooler, is that the pop up form offers you a chance to contribute to the translator's improvement by suggesting a better translation for that phrase. Your translation suggestion is sent off to Google and added to the translation tool eventually.

So the next time you want to visit some strange poker site across the Gulf of Finland from Espoo, but would rather to do it in English instead of Finnish, you can use Google Translate to help out. If you are really feeling useful, you can also improve the translation for the next poor English speaker (at least somewhere in the future) by correcting some of the bad grammar or technical terms as when Google applies my change of 'nettipokeri' -> 'online poker'.

Of course, it would be nice if these sites allow players from the United States to play, but that's just not in the game plan yet.

That Was Quick

Butch Howard

I played at Skidoo's tonight in honor of his brother's visit. I played one hand.

Pocket aces on the button. UTG raised, it folded around to me or there was one call maybe, I re-raised 3x UTG's raise, he called and it was just him and me. Flop comes all middle cards three suits two black, he checks I bet pot he calls. Turn is something of the same suit as one of the cards out there, he bets I raise he goes all in.

I should be able to fold in these situations, but I still cannot seem to do it. And that is why I have no bankroll on any site I play on.

He had pocket nines with a nine on the flop. I was toast.

One hand. sheesh.

I played dealer until the two tables shrank to one. Then I rode my sweet sweet motorcycle home.

Ninth

Butch Howard

Made it to 9th out of 117 in a 6-handed tournament. Probably the most notable point about this tournament and the last few that I have played is that I have been able to lay down hands that I know are lost. That has been a problem for me and is the main reason my bankroll is in such dire straits. I find it hard to accept that the other guy might really have a hand and that it would be better with marginal hands to just give up. Giving them up as been easier lately. I have gotten deeper in the (super cheap) tournaments I have been playing and added some meager dough to the bankroll in the cash games.

Hope springs. Or something like that.

Squirrels and Nuts

Butch Howard

I don't play much and there's not much in the bankroll, but I do find a nut once in a while.

Presto + 1

Butch Howard

I have not been playing much since the DVT, but I am trying to find some time for a game here and there. This one turned out pretty good.

Seat 2: Interrex ($12.45)
Seat 3: peepleschamp ($34.10) -
Seat 4: 42itusAces ($12.30) -
Seat 5: ProBeach7421 ($5) -
Seat 6: hitmankf ($56.05)
Seat 8: butchhoward ($26.70)
Seat 9: FleaManAA ($5.55)


PRE-FLOP:

42itusAces posts small blind $0.10
ProBeach7421 posts BIG blind $0.25
Dealt To: butchhoward


FOLD hitmankf
RAISE butchhoward ($0.70)
CALL FleaManAA ($0.70)
FOLD Interrex
FOLD peepleschamp
RAISE 42itusAces ($2)
FOLD ProBeach7421
CALL butchhoward ($1.30)
CALL FleaManAA ($1.30)


FLOP:

Pot: $6.35
   

CHECK 42itusAces
BET butchhoward ($4)
CALL FleaManAA ($3.55)
CALL 42itusAces ($4)


TURN:

Pot: $17.9
     

CHECK 42itusAces
BET butchhoward ($6.30)
CALL 42itusAces ($6.30)


RIVER:

Pot: $30.5
      



SHOWDOWN:
42itusAces:

butchhoward:

MUCK FleaManAA

butchhoward collected $12.85 from side pot 1butchhoward collected $16.1 from main pot

SUMMARY:
Total pot: $30Main pot: $16
Side pot: $12

Predictable

Butch Howard

What do you know?

Missing Month

Butch Howard

I have not played much this past month. Maybe I will get to play more in the coming month or two as things improve.

I Will Whinge and Then I Will Not

Butch Howard

I will get this out of my system and start writing in a positive vein as soon as my head heals from pounding on my desk. I have been looking over my Poker Tracker data today for some clues. I don't think I know enough about the game to really evaluate what is there, but it is good to see the common things and use it to yell at myself for doing what I know I should not be doing (Look how much you are losing with one pair you idjit!). Every bit of reinforcement is good, I think.

I do think I am getting somewhat better, even it the bankroll does not show it (and what is the measure if that is not, I must me fooling myself). I am also certain that I am being pounded by an incredible string of bad cards right now. This little stat from the Tracker gives a flavor of it I think.

In these few days of February I have played 1200 hands of No Limit (not many, but that what it is). In the database for those 1200 hands there are 122 hands with known final hands that were not folded before the flop. Of those, 13 were Three Of A Kind. I won a total of 10 out of the 13. Seven went to show down and I Won Money at Show Down 57% of the time.

For those Three of a Kind hands my winnings are Net negative by 24.5 BB. Negative because of one hand. It was folded to me in MP with JJ. I raised to 3BB, the cutoff raises to 5BB, it folds around to me and I reraise to 20BB and get called. Flop comes 789 with two spades, I have no spades. The pot is 41.5BB, I bet 50BB, he calls. The turn is a 3d. I bet 44BB and get called (yeah this should have gone in on the flop). The river is the Jack of Spades to make the straight that takes a 114BB chunk that leaves that negative value in the Three of a Kind row of the database.

So a bit of a whinge there. Likely should have either slowed down on that flop or just jammed given how wild that guy was playing earlier. Anyway, that is just a sample hand. With a few big down hands like that coming along with the many little mistakes I make, my bankroll just does not have a chance.

OK, deep breath, good night's sleep and go again tomorrow.

Broken Break

Butch Howard

This one is somewhat whinging. I got exactly the action I wanted, just not the results. In the hand just before this the villain folded when I made almost exactly the same bet on a King-high flop after calling his preflop bet with KQ. I don't think he believed me this time.

Poker Stars, $15 + $1.50 NL Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds, 9 Players
timmin99 (CO): 5,755
mopoff (BTN): 8,721
butchhoward (SB): 2,355
heron23 (BB): 2,035
cattraxdc (UTG): 1,640
DAYMATT (UTG+1): 1,500
Chpshots (UTG+2): 3,715
ProfessorNo2 (MP1): 2,785
funkyc (MP2): 3,150
Pre-Flop: (150) Ad Qd dealt to butchhoward (SB)
6 folds, mopoff raises to 400, butchhoward calls 350, heron23 folds
Flop: (900) As 7h 2h (2 Players)
butchhoward bets 650, mopoff raises to 3,400, butchhoward calls 1,305 and is All-In
Turn: (4,810) 9h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (4,810) 4h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 4,810 Pot
mopoff showed Ah 5s (a flush, Ace high) and WON 4,810 (+2,455 NET)
butchhoward showed Ad Qd (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-2,355 NET)

Too bad the runner-runner-runner-runner flush came out for him knocking me out on the last hand before the break.

Whinge of the Day

Butch Howard

Let's see if I can change my luck for the rest of the day.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, $3 + $0.30 Knockout, 15/30 Blinds, 9 Players
Hero (SB): 1,500
ScottKAZ34 (BB): 1,500
chipswillfall (UTG): 1,500
mamaholly (UTG+1): 1,500
brit94 (UTG+2): 1,500
jack-pot 70 (MP1): 1,500
jamie2318 (MP2): 1,500
repo_man456 (CO): 1,500
daddysir (BTN): 1,500
Pre-Flop: (45) 4c 4d dealt to Hero (SB)
chipswillfall folds, mamaholly calls 30, brit94 calls 30, 3 folds, daddysir calls 30, Hero calls 15, ScottKAZ34 checks
Flop: (150) Th 4h Ah (5 Players)
Hero checks, ScottKAZ34 checks, mamaholly bets 150, 2 folds, Hero raises to 500, ScottKAZ34 folds, mamaholly calls 350
Turn: (1,150) 6c (2 Players)
Hero bets 970 and is All-In, mamaholly calls 970 and is All-In
River: (3,090) 8h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,090 Pot
Hero showed 4c 4d (three of a kind, Fours) and LOST (-1,500 NET)
mamaholly showed Ac 9h (a flush, Ace high) and WON 3,090 (+1,590 NET)

Maybe I didn't make quite a large enough check raise, but still the first hand of the tournament, please.

APBT Games

Butch Howard

It was a good evening of poker at CC's with Kuro, Francase, Skidoo, and Ben. It will be great if we can make this a regular event. I certainly need to get out of the house, away from the computer, experience more physical card handling, and get in some live play. This was good for all of those.

So what did I learn? Other than that I suck, but I knew that going in, so no learning there. I think I only played about 3 hands well the entire night. Those where the only hands that I was not talking, thought the hand through, and bet like I meant it. The rest of the time I was either too tight, weakly folding to reraises, calling trash trying to not to look too tight, or floundering in mixed games that I don't play well enough to do anything but get lucky.

Yeah, writing that is giving it away, but not so much that you wouldn't be able to learn within ten minutes across the table from me so I am not worried. It's not nearly as big a tell as dropping the pneumatic on the chair every time I had a big hand: Get Dealt a decent hand, shift leg to sit up, SSSSHHTTTSSSTHHT, CLUNK, I am six inches shorter betting with my chin on the table edge. Everybody folds. I tried faking it a couple of times, but it just did not have the same affect. Gotta work on that.

These are the games I remember playing:

• NL Hold Em
• PLO
• PLO8
• Pineapple
• Pot Limit Pineapple
• 2-7 Triple Draw
• Razz
• Stud
• 7 Stud 8

See you guys next time.

Now where did I stash that copy of Super System...

Was it Something I Said?

Butch Howard

Whinge Whinge Whinge.

And then have a great run in a tournament. Is that all it takes? A bunch of complaining? Or is it because the television is off, the wife and active child are out of town leaving me with just the very quiet daughter and poker?

Maybe, just maybe being able to focus helps the game somewhat. Hmmm. I might have to find some way to try this more often (without the Beautiful Wife and Darling Child being a couple of hundred miles away driving in winter snow advisory weather of course).

ITM in $15 tournament on PokerStars. I have been the chip leader for the past hour and have been in the top ten for the past 2.5 hours (I wrote this at the beginning of the 3rd break). ABC, no special moves good or bad, folding instead of not, just getting hit with the deck.

(I added some details later)
This is where I jumped to the top of the leader board. Blinds were 75/150 at this point. I had nothing good or bad happen up to this point. I had just basically held level with the blinds and not much more.

BB: 6,815
UTG: 5,045
UTG+1: 1,780
UTG+2: 2,845
MP1: 1,360
MP2: 4,895
CO: 3,240
Hero (BTN): 2,880
SB: 3,295
Pre-Flop: (150) Tc Th dealt to Hero (BTN)
5 folds, CO raises to 200, Hero calls 200, SB folds, BB raises to 1,100, CO calls 900, Hero raises to 2,880 and is All-In, BB raises to 6,815 and is All-In, CO folds
Flop: (6,910) 5d Ts Js (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (6,910) 9h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (6,910) Jh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 6,910 Pot
BB showed Jd Ad (three of a kind, Jacks) and LOST (-2,880 NET)
Hero showed Tc Th (a full house, Tens full of Jacks) and WON 6,910 (+4,030 NET)


The very next hand, I had Presto and played it in what I thought was just fine and dandy. The fellow I busted had some negative opinions about the play that he voiced for a while.

MP1: 3,860
MP2: 5,270
CO: 1,555
BTN: 2,620
SB: 1,210
BB: 7,485
Hero (UTG): 6,910
UTG+1: 3,245
Pre-Flop: (225) 5s 5c dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 375, 4 folds, BTN calls 375, SB raises to 1,210 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls 835, BTN raises to 2,620 and is All-In, Hero calls 1,410
Flop: (6,600) Ac 2s 5d (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (6,600) 2h (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (6,600) Qh (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 6,600 Pot
BTN showed Ah Kh (two pair, Aces and Deuces) and LOST (-2,620 NET)
SB showed Ts Js (a pair of Deuces) and LOST (-1,210 NET)
Hero showed 5s 5c (a full house, Fives full of Deuces) and WON 6,600 (+3,980 NET)

The initial raise might have been a bit aggressive, but I figured with the TT hand that just went on no one would believe I was playing a small pair. Once the other bets were made and it came back around to me, the odds were right (in my head at least) to make the call. Going through the math just now, I think I am right. Calling the all in from SB was certainly right from the math. The pot was 2110 when got back to me and I needed to call 835 giving me 2.5 to 1 from the pot. Even if I would have guessed the button would shove and I would really be calling 2245 and getting even money which isn't great, but not horrible since nothing else is going in and if I lose I still have about 20BB to work with.

Pushing to try to get the button to fold may have been an option, but it seemed like he was in for the ride no matter what. I assumed he would call and try to keep me in for more if he had a big hand. When he shoved I felt he had AK, AQ or a medium pair. Since the numbers were pretty close and there would be no more betting, I called.

PokerStove numbers match in the ballpark of what I was thinking at the time. I put the SB on a fairly wide range of something like 22+, A2s+, KTs+, QTs+, JTs, A6o+, KTo+, QTo+, JTo and the button on a range of JJ-77, AQs+, AQo+, and I have exactly 5c5s, then it says I am 27% to win, the button is 41%, and the SB is 31%.

Of course, hitting the 5 on the flop was handy.



This is the rest of the tournament. [I ended up in 13th place out of 994]

94 players remaining

BTN: 45,021
SB: 32,695
BB: 18,788
UTG: 5,895
Hero (UTG+1): 43,165
MP1: 26,475
MP2: 12,116
CO: 19,220
Pre-Flop: (1,800) Jd Js dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG calls 800, Hero raises to 2,851, 5 folds, BB calls 2,051, UTG raises to 5,820 and is All-In, Hero raises to 43,090 and is All-In, BB folds
Flop: (15,491) Jh 4d Td (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (15,491) Ts (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (15,491) Kh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 15,491 Pot
UTG showed Ah Qs (a straight, Ten to Ace) and LOST (-5,895 NET)
Hero showed Jd Js (a full house, Jacks full of Tens) and WON 15,491 (+9,596 NET)


75 players remaining

MP1: 5,925
MP2: 15,893
CO: 17,004
BTN: 12,667
SB: 48,178
Hero (BB): 56,911
UTG: 14,736
UTG+1: 12,620
Pre-Flop: (2,400) Ks Ah dealt to Hero (BB)
7 folds, SB calls 500, Hero raises to 4,903, SB calls 3,903
Flop: (10,706) 7s 5s Td (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
SB checks, Hero bets 7,000, SB calls 7,000
Turn: (24,706) 3s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
SB checks, Hero checks
River: (24,706) 4s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
SB checks, Hero bets 15,000, SB calls 15,000
Results: 54,706 Pot
SB mucked 7c 7d and LOST (-27,003 NET)
Hero showed Ks Ah (a flush, King high) and WON 54,706 (+27,703 NET)


64 players remaining

I should have folded AK instead of calling on this one.

MP2: 11,150
CO: 18,393
BTN: 14,804
SB: 25,787
BB: 22,975
Hero (UTG): 83,514
UTG+1: 7,411
MP1: 4,186
Pre-Flop: (2,400) Kd As dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to 3,907, 2 folds, MP2 raises to 11,050 and is All-In, 3 folds, SB raises to 25,687 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls 21,780
Flop: (64,324) 6s 9c 8h (3 Players - 2 are All-In)
Turn: (64,324) 5c (3 Players - 2 are All-In)
River: (64,324) Kc (3 Players - 2 are All-In)
Results: 64,324 Pot
MP2 showed 9d 9h (three of a kind, Nines) and WON 35,050 (+23,900 NET)
SB showed Ah Ac (a pair of Aces) and WON 29,274 (+3,487 NET)
Hero showed Kd As (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-25,787 NET)

I think my big stack lured me into hoping that this was two non-hands making moves, but that was just stupid at this point in the game. I should be able to let go in these spots.

54 players remaining.

I called with 78s after checking down on a [5d 7d 2s Tc Ts] to bust [4h 2d].

500/1000/100 Blinds
UTG: 34,950
UTG+1: 18,193
MP: 14,604
CO: 38,685
BTN: 21,275
Hero (SB): 56,627
BB: 3,986
Pre-Flop: (2,200) 8h 7h dealt to Hero (SB)
3 folds, CO calls 1,000, BTN folds, Hero calls 500, BB checks
Flop: (3,700) 5d 7d 2s (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, CO checks
Turn: (3,700) Tc (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, CO checks
River: (3,700) Ts (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB bets 2,886 and is All-In, CO folds, Hero calls 2,886
Results: 9,472 Pot
Hero showed 8h 7h (two pair, Tens and Sevens) and WON 9,472 (+5,486 NET)
BB showed 4h 2d (two pair, Tens and Deuces) and LOST (-3,986 NET)

If he had anything he would have bet it when it hit so I did not believe him when he did bet.


1:00am 4th of 50 players stack 60k


Took out the fellow who lost the 777 vs. Spade flush hand to me earlier.

UTG+2: 60,329
MP1: 13,118
MP2: 20,358
CO: 11,754
BTN: 38,635
SB: 12,900
Hero (BB): 45,909
UTG: 49,280
UTG+1: 20,882
Pre-Flop: (2,925) 6d Ad dealt to Hero (BB)
7 folds, SB raises to 12,775 and is All-In, Hero calls 11,575
Flop: (26,675) Jd 7d 9d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (26,675) As (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (26,675) 3s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 26,675 Pot
SB showed 9c Qc (a pair of Nines) and LOST (-12,900 NET)
Hero showed 6d Ad (a flush, Ace high) and WON 26,675 (+13,775 NET)


1:30 am. 7th of 30 remaining. 58k stack. 1000/2000/200 blinds.

99 on the button. The chip leader is UTG and Raises. Folds to me. I have about half his stack. I shove, the blinds fold, he folds.

Ouch. My AK runs into KK and leaves me with less than 2k.

A6 makes two pair

A8 splits the pot

I now have 1ok

I have QQ and the big stack calls. The girls hold to double me up to 18k.

20 players left.

I have QJo and shove. Two big stacks call, I pair a jack on the flop and it holds up. I triple up to 45k. 19 remaining.

KQo shove all fold. 52k.

2:00 am 2000/4000/400 blinds 19 players remaining. I am in 11th place with a 45k stack.

33 push, all fold, 45k. 15 remaining.

2:15 Last Hand:

SB: 202,477
BB: 87,105
UTG: 253,378
UTG+1: 210,174
MP: 25,840
Hero (CO): 37,382
BTN: 83,034
Pre-Flop: (8,800) Ks 5s dealt to Hero (CO)
3 folds, Hero raises to 36,982 and is All-In, BTN folds, SB calls 34,982, BB raises to 86,705 and is All-In, SB folds
Flop: (113,746) Qd Jh 9h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (113,746) As (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (113,746) Kh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 113,746 Pot
BB showed Qh Ad (two pair, Aces and Queens) and WON 113,746 (+76,364 NET)
Hero showed Ks 5s (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-37,382 NET)

Finished in 13th place. That was fun. I need more like that one.

Hand Histories formatted using LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

In Cash Games Too

Butch Howard

Full Tilt Poker, $0.05/$0.10 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players
AceInMyHole (UTG+2): $7.65
butchhoward (MP1): $9.20
mrmelty (MP2): $22.30
basstardos (CO): $18.70
ts24chavez (BTN): $15.15
MC70 (SB): $4.05
blindcow (BB): $10
bruddah99502 (UTG): $3.25
Flying_Snow (UTG+1): $1.70
Pre-Flop: 2d 2s dealt to butchhoward (MP1)
3 folds, butchhoward calls $0.10, mrmelty folds, basstardos calls $0.10, ts24chavez calls $0.10, MC70 calls $0.05, blindcow checks
Flop: ($0.50) Ac Ad 2c (5 Players)
MC70 checks, blindcow bets $0.30, butchhoward raises to $0.60, 2 folds, MC70 calls $0.60, blindcow raises to $1.15, butchhoward raises to $1.70, MC70 calls $1.10, blindcow raises to $9.90 and is All-In, butchhoward calls $7.40 and is All-In, MC70 calls $2.25 and is All-In
Turn: ($22.65) Tc (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: ($22.65) Ts (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
MC70 says "nh"
Results: $22.65 Pot ($2 Rake)
butchhoward showed 2d 2s (a full house, Twos full of Aces) and LOST (-$9.20 NET)
MC70 showed 5c Kc (a flush, Ace high) and LOST (-$4.05 NET)
blindcow showed Ah Th (a full house, Aces full of Tens) and WON $20.65 (+$11.45 NET)

The min-raise on the flop was an accident from being on the phone with Mary. The min-raise on the turn was just to goad him since I was certain he had an ace by then. Little did I know he had found one of his two outs by that time and was happy to be poked.

Whinge Whinge Whinge some more.

This is Wearing Me Down

Butch Howard

This is the way many of the tournaments I play have gone lately. Yes I am whinging on about it, but its my blog so I can. I only lasted 12 hands in this one, but the way I was knocked out is typical for the way I have been going out. I know I am supposed to be happy to be playing with folks who will play trash like this, but I am not there yet. I am also not to the point where I can fold in a hand like the 10th below. At least I got one KO before getting smacked.

Whinge Whinge Whinge. I love that word.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold'em Tournament, $5 + $0.50 Knockout, 15/30 Blinds, 9 Players

Pre-Flop: (45) 5c 8h dealt to butchhoward (MP1)
Jimmy2006ca folds, Loo-p-loo calls 30, 2 folds, G_man234 raises to 135, 3 folds, WickedOne raises to 1,500 and is All-In, Loo-p-loo folds, G_man234 calls 1,365 and is All-In
Flop: (3,045) Js 5s 7s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Turn: (3,045) 3h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (3,045) 3s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,045 Pot
WickedOne showed Tc As (a flush, Ace high) and WON 3,045 (+1,545 NET)
G_man234 showed Kd Ac (a pair of Threes) and LOST (-1,500 NET)


Pre-Flop: (45) Ks 6h dealt to butchhoward (MP1)
3 folds, j-villejagz1 raises to 90, 4 folds
Results: 75 Pot
j-villejagz1 mucked and WON 75 (+45 NET)

hotmamma3 (CO): 1,485
WickedOne (BTN): 3,030
Jimmy2006ca (SB): 1,470
Loo-p-loo (BB): 1,470
jared1977 (UTG): 1,500
butchhoward (UTG+1): 1,500
AA JUSTME683 (UTG+2): 1,500
j-villejagz1 (MP1): 1,545
ca_24 (MP2): 1,500
Pre-Flop: (45) Ad Ah dealt to butchhoward (UTG+1)
jared1977 folds, butchhoward raises to 100, AA JUSTME683 calls 100, j-villejagz1 calls 100, 5 folds
Flop: (345) Th 6d Td (3 Players)
butchhoward bets 300, AA JUSTME683 calls 300, j-villejagz1 folds
Turn: (945) 5h (2 Players)
butchhoward bets 1,100 and is All-In, AA JUSTME683 calls 1,100 and is All-In
River: (3,145) 4h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 3,145 Pot
butchhoward showed Ad Ah (two pair, Aces and Tens) and WON 3,145 (+1,645 NET)
AA JUSTME683 showed 8d 8h (two pair, Tens and Eights) and LOST (-1,500 NET)


Pre-Flop: (45) 6s 7c dealt to butchhoward (UTG)
butchhoward folds, j-villejagz1 raises to 90, ca_24 folds, hotmamma3 calls 90, 4 folds
Flop: (225) 2c 5c As (2 Players)
j-villejagz1 bets 150, hotmamma3 calls 150
Turn: (525) Ah (2 Players)
j-villejagz1 bets 30, hotmamma3 calls 30
River: (585) 9d (2 Players)
j-villejagz1 bets 345, hotmamma3 raises to 1,215 and is All-In, j-villejagz1 folds
Results: 1,275 Pot
hotmamma3 mucked and WON 1,275 (+660 NET)

Pre-Flop: (45) 4s 2d dealt to butchhoward (BB)
WickedOne calls 30, jared1977 calls 15, butchhoward checks
Flop: (90) 5c Tc 4h (3 Players)
jared1977 checks, butchhoward checks, WickedOne checks
Turn: (90) Ad (3 Players)
jared1977 checks, butchhoward checks, WickedOne bets 60, jared1977 calls 60
River: (210) Ks (2 Players)
jared1977 checks, WickedOne checks
Results: 210 Pot
WickedOne showed 8h Kh (a pair of Kings) and WON 210 (+120 NET)
jared1977 mucked 3c Jd (Ace King high) and LOST (-90 NET)


Pre-Flop: (45) Jh 4s dealt to butchhoward (SB)
2 folds, hotmamma3 calls 30, WickedOne raises to 60, 4 folds, Rem_The_Man calls 30, hotmamma3 calls 30
Flop: (195) 4h 3d 7h (3 Players)
Rem_The_Man checks, hotmamma3 checks, WickedOne checks
Turn: (195) 3c (3 Players)
Rem_The_Man checks, hotmamma3 bets 30, WickedOne folds, Rem_The_Man calls 30
River: (255) 4c (2 Players)
Rem_The_Man checks, hotmamma3 checks
Results: 255 Pot
hotmamma3 showed 5h Ad (two pair, Fours and Threes) and WON 127 (+37 NET)
Rem_The_Man showed Ah 9c (two pair, Fours and Threes) and WON 128 (+38 NET)


Pre-Flop: (45) Td 8h dealt to butchhoward (BTN)
ca_24 folds, hotmamma3 calls 30, 3 folds, jared1977 raises to 60, 2 folds, j-villejagz1 raises to 225, hotmamma3 folds, jared1977 calls 165
Flop: (495) Ts Jh Qd (2 Players)
j-villejagz1 bets 205, jared1977 raises to 1,155 and is All-In, j-villejagz1 calls 400 and is All-In
Turn: (1,705) Js (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (1,705) 6c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 1,705 Pot
jared1977 showed Qc Kc (two pair, Queens and Jacks) and WON 1,705 (+875 NET)
j-villejagz1 showed As 9d (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-830 NET)


hotmamma3 (BB): 2,152
WickedOne (UTG): 3,090
Jimmy2006ca (UTG+1): 1,455
Loo-p-loo (MP1): 1,425
jared1977 (MP2): 2,255
butchhoward (CO): 3,100
Rem_The_Man (BTN): 3,113
ca_24 (SB): 1,500
Pre-Flop: (30) 9h 8h dealt to butchhoward (CO)
5 folds, butchhoward raises to 100, Rem_The_Man folds, ca_24 calls 70
Flop: (200) 5c 8c 6h (2 Players)
ca_24 bets 150, butchhoward calls 150
Turn: (500) Kd (2 Players)
ca_24 bets 500, butchhoward folds
Results: 500 Pot
ca_24 mucked and WON 500 (+250 NET)


hotmamma3 (BB): 2,152
WickedOne (UTG): 3,090
Jimmy2006ca (UTG+1): 1,455
Loo-p-loo (UTG+2): 1,425
jared1977 (MP1): 2,255
butchhoward (MP2): 2,850
Rem_The_Man (CO): 3,113
golfing1963 (BTN): 1,136
ca_24 (SB): 1,750
Pre-Flop: (45) Ks Kd dealt to butchhoward (MP2)
2 folds, Loo-p-loo calls 30, jared1977 folds, butchhoward raises to 100, Rem_The_Man folds, golfing1963 calls 100, ca_24 folds, hotmamma3 calls 70, Loo-p-loo folds
Flop: (345) Kc 3s Ts (3 Players)
hotmamma3 checks, butchhoward bets 300, golfing1963 calls 300, hotmamma3 calls 300
Turn: (1,245) Ah (3 Players)
hotmamma3 checks, butchhoward checks, golfing1963 bets 736 and is All-In, hotmamma3 raises to 1,752 and is All-In, butchhoward calls 1,752
River: (5,485) 9c (3 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 5,485 Pot
hotmamma3 showed Jc Qc (a straight, Ace high) and WON 5,485 (+3,333 NET)
butchhoward showed Ks Kd (three of a kind, Kings) and LOST (-2,152 NET)
golfing1963 showed 6h Th (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-1,136 NET)

I don't think it would have come out any differently had I bet the turn instead of checked. The straight should have slowed me down, but I was just too happy with the trips and the two shoves on the turn given the crap they had been playing to that point.

Pre-Flop: (45) 9h Js dealt to butchhoward (MP2)
2 folds, jared1977 calls 30, hotmamma3 calls 15, WickedOne raises to 90, jared1977 calls 60, hotmamma3 calls 60
Flop: (270) 6h Th 3c (3 Players)
hotmamma3 checks, WickedOne bets 180, jared1977 calls 180, hotmamma3 folds
Turn: (630) Kh (2 Players)
WickedOne checks, jared1977 bets 180, WickedOne folds
Results: 630 Pot
jared1977 mucked and WON 630 (+360 NET)


Pre-Flop: (60) Qd 2d dealt to butchhoward (UTG+2)
Loo-p-loo calls 40, 2 folds, Rem_The_Man calls 40, 2 folds, hotmamma3 calls 40, WickedOne calls 20, Jimmy2006ca checks
Flop: (200) Jc 3s Qc (5 Players)
WickedOne checks, Jimmy2006ca checks, Loo-p-loo checks, Rem_The_Man checks, hotmamma3 checks
Turn: (200) 9d (5 Players)
WickedOne checks, Jimmy2006ca checks, Loo-p-loo bets 200, 4 folds
Results: 200 Pot
Loo-p-loo mucked and WON 200 (+160 NET)


hotmamma3 (CO): 5,355
WickedOne (BTN): 2,780
Jimmy2006ca (SB): 1,415
Loo-p-loo (BB): 1,555
jared1977 (UTG): 2,615
butchhoward (UTG+1): 698
Rem_The_Man (UTG+2): 3,073
fortworthgp (MP1): 3,690
ca_24 (MP2): 1,735
Pre-Flop: (60) Kd Jd dealt to butchhoward (UTG+1)
jared1977 folds, butchhoward raises to 120, 4 folds, WickedOne calls 120, Jimmy2006ca folds, Loo-p-loo calls 80
Flop: (380) 6c 2s Kc (3 Players)
Loo-p-loo checks, butchhoward bets 578 and is All-In, WickedOne raises to 2,660 and is All-In, Loo-p-loo folds
Turn: (1,536) 2h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
River: (1,536) 8h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
Results: 1,536 Pot
WickedOne showed Ac 2c (three of a kind, Twos) and WON 1,536 (+838 NET)
butchhoward showed Kd Jd (two pair, Kings and Twos) and LOST (-698 NET)

And of course I cannot get a hand to hold so IGHN.